Daemons
Chapter 25

Reaper took great satisfaction in seeing Cross flee, sadistic glee rivaling his fury as Nightmare left to chase after him. He deserved every bit of pain he was feeling and more in the raven’s eyes, for he had dared to hurt his precious little mate. Geno was still sobbing in his arms, unaware that his brother had actually left the room. With the threat now gone, the daemon turned his attention to the smaller’s pain and fear, gently shushing him and promising that he was okay and safe now.

When the smaller’s cries died down to a whimper, the raven pulled away just enough to examine his arm. The bandages were crimson, stained with fresh blood from the reopening of several cuts. The bone underneath also felt... delicate, as if the bandages were all that was holding it all in place. “Did he break your arm?” He asked softly, keeping his voice gentle to avoid upsetting Geno again.

The frail skeleton sniffled as he shook his head, gingerly retracting his arm. “I-It’s only c-cracked... happens p-pretty easily with me,” he said, though it did little to assure the taller or ease his worries.

“I’m just thankful that my wards kept any nurses away during that mess, I can’t imagine the chaos it would’ve caused had some nurse heard you scream and came in to replace me and Nightmare in our true forms.” God, he couldn’t even imagine how he’d fix that mess, thankful for warding the area to deter the staff once Cross and Nightmare arrived. For now, his wards remained in place, though his pocket dimension collapsed to spare the excess magic drainage. Those wards would buy him enough time to tend to his little swan before someone came to check on him, though he still had no idea how Geno could explain this to one of the doctors.

“Woah, you can do that, bird guy?” Came an unfamiliar voice, Reaper tensing as his instincts shifted his focus back to protection. His eyes darted around the room, only for a giggle to escape his mate as he locked eyes with what appeared to be a floating boy. “Sup!” He greeted with a two fingered salute, his grin falling as his gaze fell to Geno. “Sorry Gen, should’ve known that he’d do something stupid. I would’ve stopped him, but I was too pissed to even be out and about near him, sorry.”

“It’s alright CC, it’s not your fault,” Geno responded, a soft smile on his face despite the pain he must’ve been in.

The raven however was dumbfounded, looking between the two of them in confusion. “You know him?” He dumbly asked his beloved, earning another of his beautiful giggles.

“Of course I do. He’s... well long story short, he’s my other brother. Reaper, meet CC. CC, Reaper.”

CC floated over as he was introduced, getting way too close for comfort in Reaper’s opinion as his grin only grew. “Yo, you’re the daemon from the forest!” He blurted out, suddenly very excited as he floated around in lazy circles.

“Daemon from the forest? I’m... not sure I-”

The hooded skeleton was cut off before he could even fully voice his confusion, feeling very much like a fish out of water at this moment. “I know it was you! I’d recognize a soul as strong as yours anywhere!”

“CC’s spiritual nature lets him sense the presence of others nearby based on their souls,” Geno offered as explanation, though that still didn’t really explain what exactly this floating child was or why he was referring to the raven as the daemon from the forest.

Before he could ask for any sort of clarification though, the ghost took off again, chattering away without a care in the world as he all of a sudden ignored the daemon. “Yeah, so I saw that whole thing, and I’ve come to the conclusion that our brother really does have the emotional stability of a teenager. Like, first he calls me Chara when he got pissy at me, and then he cracks your arm because he lost his temper again!”

“Wait, hold up, he called you Chara?”

“Yeah, the fucker did, which is why I’m still pissed at him and didn’t offer him a lick of assistance in this mess. Told him that I was here for you and you alone, and I’m sticking to that until I’m done being mad at him. Speaking of being here for ya, took the liberty of informing the doc that she should come see ya, in fact she’s on her way right now!”

Reaper didn’t understand a single thing from that conversation other than Cross apparently had issues controlling his temper, though he definitely understood the part about the doctor. “Wait, right now? As in-”

“As in she’s at the door,” CC cheerfully finished, just in time for a familiar human woman to walk in the door to the room. The hooded skeleton instantly froze, panic filling him as he didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t disappear, not with Geno leaning on him as he was. It would make it look like his soulmate was floating in midair, and if they went to inspect the space, they’d replace him very much still there. He couldn’t exactly have both of them disappear either, not when the doctor was coming specifically for Geno and would replace his absence alarming. So he sat there, frozen in panic as his wide eyes locked on to the woman that had now most definitely seen him.

Dr. Lang’s eyes went just as wide as she caught sight of Reaper, still in his daemon form, before a sigh escaped her. “Well, that certainly explains a lot of my questions,” she sighed, wandering over with a calmness that left the daemon positively baffled. “Am I to assume that you’re the one who put up the wards keeping the nurses away as well?”

“You... you know of warding magic?”

“I’m familiar with it, yes. I know that wards are based on intent; if someone’s intent to reach the area protected by the ward isn’t strong enough, then the ward will redirect their thoughts and distract them from their initial goal. In the case of the nurses and doctors here, they will simply forget to check on Geno and move on to other patients instead.” The lady paused to adjust her glasses before continuing, honestly leaving Reaper speechless with her knowledge on the arcane. “I’ll admit, that ward was definitely a strong one. Had my sole focus not been to see Geno following CC’s recommendation, then I probably would’ve been deflected as well. Now then, daemon, care to tell me how long you’ve been hiding out in my patient’s room?”

“Okay, first off, how do you know that I’m a daemon? Second, how do you even know what a daemon is? And third... I’ve been here since the beginning.”

A sigh escaped the doctor as he admitted to his constant presence, unintelligible muttering coming from her as she adjusted her glasses once again. Before she could speak up though, CC was wildly waving his hand around to grab everyone’s attention. “Oh, oh, I know the answer those questions! That’s cuz the doc is a hunter!”

"Ex hunter, thank you very much,” Dr. Lang snapped, only to grumble something about the ghostly child as she saw Reaper instantly tense up and grow increasingly defensive. “Relax daemon, I wasn’t even a field operative when I was with them. I was a doctor for them, just as I’m a doctor now. I tried my best to keep both the hunters alive as well as the monsters they captured. But... after some sickening insight into how the inner circle of the hunters worked, I left. I had no interest in being a slave to the demented wishes of a mad, old man.”

“You were in the inner circle?” Reaper asked, replaceing her claim hard to believe. The tiered structure of the hunters put a small few in charge of everything, orders trickling down throughout the levels to the various lower-level members. While he’d never met anyone from the inner circle, which included the platinum hunters that he never wanted to run into, the horror stories he’d heard really didn’t match the mild-mannered doctor in front of him.

Yet she calmly nodded in answer to his question, the raven not sensing anything to indicate that she was lying. “My skills allowed me to earn respect in the organization quickly, and when nobody else could match my talent for medicine, I suddenly found myself surrounded by top-secret this and platinum that.”

“And... you’re telling me all of this why?”

The woman chuckled at his question, sending him a coy smile as she did so. “Well, you’re Geno’s soulmate, are you not?” He in turn nodded, as it was clear that Dr. Lang understood the nature of daemons from her apparent time among the hunters. She likely knew what his story was the moment she saw an avian skeleton clinging to her patient, which would also explain her lack of surprise other than the initial shock of seeing him in Geno’s bed. “Well, since that’s the case, there’s absolutely no point in keeping any secrets from you. You’ve already been privy to sensitive information about Geno’s health just from hiding in here while I’ve been treating him, and telling you about my past will help assure you that I’m not a threat. Whatever I don’t tell you now, Geno will eventually tell you because he trusts you, and because of that I trust you as well. I’m merely a doctor that wants to try my best to keep a very stubborn patient of mine alive, and you are quite possibly going to be my best ally in achieving that feat.”

As she mentioned her stubborn patient, her harsh gaze fell directly onto Geno who jumped and immediately raised his arms in defense. “Okay, yes I’m stubborn, but this time it wasn’t me, I swear!”

“He’s telling the truth doc, Cross threw a temper tantrum when he saw the bandages,” CC explained, voice full of disgust as he said the monochrome skeleton’s name.

Dr. Lang pinched the bridge of her nose at CC’s explanation, clearly feeling the same frustration as the others in the room at this news. “I should’ve known he’d take it poorly, especially once Geno told me about how he’d been gone for so long without any word.”

While the doctor moved closer to examine Geno’s arm, the frail skeleton turned a worried gaze towards CC. “Speaking of Cross, where is he?” The tone was both fearful and concerned, as if he were afraid of him returning to the hospital room. Whether the concern was of a similar vein as the fear or concern for his brother’s well-being, the raven couldn’t say. But as far as he was concerned, Cross wouldn’t ever be coming back in this room.

CC seemed to share his opinion on the matter, a scoff escaping him as he rolled his eyes. “He’s outside crying his eyes out behind some bush, which is thankfully close enough for me to check in on ya while that stupid octo-fuck tries to take the blame for his mistakes.”

“CC!” Geno blurted out, seemingly aghast at what Reaper thought was a very accurate description of the situation.

The ghost wasn’t willing to back down on his thoughts either apparently, snarling back as his brother tried to scold him for his comments. “Geno, he broke your fucking arm! And his absence is the whole reason that you’re in the hospital! I wanted to check on you, but noooo, I’m just the annoying ghostly tagalong that’s been forced to watch those two cuddle and swap spit for weeks! Trust me, he deserves every bit of this misery.”

“For the record, the arm’s not broken,” Dr. Lang piped up, having unwrapped the bandaging while the pair were bickering and inspected the damage. “The ulna is sporting three new cracks, but they’re relatively mild despite the damage already present. Since the bone didn’t fracture completely, it should heal alongside the cuts with relative ease, and the DT currently in your system should be enough to heal everything without an additional dose.” As the doctor explained the state of the injury, she worked on disinfecting the new cracks, replacing the old, blood-soaked bandages with fresh ones as she went along. “We’ll still need to monitor your levels though due to the blood loss from the wound being reopened, but I don’t think you’ll need any more help from me, just bed rest until you’re all healed up.”

“Well, that’s better than I thought it was,” CC sighed, only to begin slowly drifting away. This didn’t seem to be something that he was consciously doing however, a look of confusion on his face that was slowly being replaced with annoyance as his eyebrows knitted together. “Are you fucking serious?! Why’d you have to get your mopey ass up now?!”

While Reaper had absolutely no clue who the monochrome child was referring to, especially considering how he was yelling at the wall instead of any of the three of them, Geno seemed to understand. “You’re at the end of your range, aren’t you?”

“Range?” The daemon echoed, replaceing himself voicing his confusion once again. This was beginning to become a repeat thing ever since Geno woke up in the hospital, with his soulmate seemingly having all the answers and him having none.

Once again, his little swan had the response to his question, twisting a bit to smile up at him. “CC’s soul is tied with Cross, it’s what allows him to persist even as a ghost. But since Cross is the one with a body, CC can only be a certain distance away before he hits the end of his range.”

“Which means I’m constantly stuck with Moody Mc Mooderson,” CC grumbled as he drifted away, looking utterly unimpressed as he approached the walls of the room. “Welp, my guess is that the big baby will probs loiter close enough for me to check in from time to time, but I don’t think you’ll have to worry about him showing his face here for a while. In the meantime, I trust the doc and the bird to take care of ya Gen, so I’m sure you’ll be outta here in no time! See ya!” With that, the ghost faded away, the faint mumblings about potentially beating up his brother fading along with him.

“Did he just call me a bird?” Reaper grumbled, frowning as his grip tightening just a bit on the smaller skeleton in his grasp. He was so much more than just a bird! A prodigal magician! A literature connoisseur! A deadly, scythe-wielding badass! But nope, the ghost went with ‘bird’.

His grumbling did at least amuse the other two, Geno’s magical laughter doing wonders to soothe his ruffled feathers. The doctor however proceeded to immediately ruffle them again though as she shot him a smirk. “To be fair, CC is correct. Your animal heritage is clearly avian in nature, so you could be identified as part-bird.”

“Genoooo, they’re bullying me!” He whined, nuzzling into the smaller’s neck as he huffed dramatically. Seemingly ignoring him, Dr. Lang rolled her eyes as she instead turned to address her patient.

“Your taste in men very much confuses me, Geno.”

“Trust me, it confuses the hell out of me to. But I guess I’m stuck with the big idiot.”

“Oh come on, you love me!” Reaper insisted, doubling down on his nuzzling as a few happy chirps made their way out of his throat. His mate’s good arm instantly moved to push his head away, but it was useless and the daemon eventually won the fight. “Even if you won’t say it, I know you love me~”

Chuckling at their playful antics, the doctor eventually stood up and wrote a few notes on a clipboard. “Alright, well everything looks good on my end. I’ve covered for the break in the notes and I’ll explain to the nurses on the ward that I ‘accidentally broke it because I underestimated how brittle the cuts made it’. All you need to do is rest...” She trailed off, pointing a finger at the raven sitting behind Geno. “And you need to drop that ward before it causes problems. Eventually, they’ll realize that nobody’s checked on him during the rounds, and then everyone will be in shit.”

“Fine, I’ll drop it... in a bit.” He wanted a few more moments of cuddles anyways, and the ward wouldn’t cause suspicion if left up for a small bit longer. While the doctor shot him an unimpressed glare over her glasses, she wished Geno well before departing, leaving the couple all alone again.

The mood instantly changed the moment they had no visitors, and Reaper could practically feel it. The way Geno slumped over like he lacked the strength to stand straight anymore, the sigh that puffed its way out of the smaller in a way that was full of misery, and the all-around depressed aura he gave off made it painfully obvious to the taller that his soulmate’s cheerful response to CC and Dr. Lang’s presence was very much staged.

Not wanting to draw attention to it right away, the daemon decided to simply shift their position so that the frail skeleton was leaning back more, almost laying down. He’d figured out quite quickly that Geno loved it when the raven wrapped his wings around him, using them as a warm and snug blanket to snuggle him with. With his wings handling the snuggling, he let his hands gently trace meaningless patterns along his partner’s bones, wanting to do as much as he could to relax the smaller and make him willing to talk about the sudden change in mood.

“If you’re trying to get me to talk, then all you need to do is ask. At this rate, all you’ll accomplish is putting me to sleep.” The raven hissed a bit as he was almost instantly called out, looking down only to see Geno’s single eye gazing back at him. A sigh escaped the smaller as he looked away, one of his hands replaceing Reaper’s underneath his wings. “I’ll be fine... I’m just worried about Cross. I know you’re probably pissed at him for hurting me, but I’d like to think that I know him well enough to look past one outburst.”

“Gen, he nearly broke your arm-”

“Which I know wasn’t his intention,” the frail skeleton cut him off, his grip tightening just a bit before relaxing again. “I wish he would’ve respected my wishes to stay away while I healed, so that I would avoid triggering him, but I had a feeling that he would be stubborn about it. He only wanted to see me because he was worried, and... is that daemon that was with him his soulmate?”

The taller nodded, now curious to see where his own soulmate’s train of thought was going. “I thought so, the way he reacted to Cross’ distress made it obvious. That, and CC’s complaints about the two of them spending so much time together. His absence now makes a lot more sense, even if it still hurts, but I guess I can’t blame him. I know just how easy it is to get wrapped up in the affections of a daemon’s love.”

“That’s still no excuse for hurting you!”

“No... no you’re right.” Geno sighed, a bittersweet smile just visible on his face as he brought the hand currently holding Reaper’s up to his chest, near his soul. “But our past is. Knowing what I know, I can’t hold it against him... this is still such a mess though.”

A moment of silence passed over the couple, Reaper waiting to see if his little swan would elaborate on his past would Cross. Yet nothing ever came, and even his subtle prodding produced no results, meaning that they weren’t going to come. Apparently, whatever this painful past his little mate had was, he wasn’t going to say a thing about it. Before he could think to vocalize his desire to know though, he noticed that the tension often present in Geno’s small frame had dissipated. It seemed that his efforts to comfort his soulmate to the point of being willing to talk really did put him to sleep, which was good in a sense since he needed rest to properly heal. It didn’t change the questions floating around in the daemon’s head however that would remain unanswered for the time being.

The lack of answers continued into the next day, as any attempt to ask his soulmate directly about his past was immediately shot down. There were several excuses given, but they all boiled down to one truth; whatever Geno’s past was, it was bad enough that he never had any intention of ever reliving it. Even the memories were clearly too painful to discuss, and while it hurt the hooded skeleton to see his everything internalizing such pain, he could understand and respect his choice. Even if it hurt to not be let in, he held hope that maybe one day, Geno might change his mind.

With talk of the past strictly off the table, the two entertained other topics as the days in the hospital began to bleed into one another. Their time alone was occasionally interrupted by CC, as well as the bitter reminder that Cross was close enough to the hospital to facilitate such a visit. Dr. Lang was a more common visitor, though her appearances were strictly for the business of monitoring Geno’s vitals and DT levels while inspecting his recovery process. There were a few nurses that would routinely check in on Geno as well once the ward was removed, but for the most part, the two were alone.

While the time in the hospital’s care was leading to a speedy recovery physically, mental health was a different story. Before, Reaper was certain that his presence alone would be enough to keep his beloved happy no matter what, but the frail skeleton’s sudden bout of depression was leaving the daemon in an existential crisis. Why was he suddenly not good enough? Was he doing something wrong? Did he need to apologize for his failure? Any time he tried to ask, the smaller always brushed him off in a similar way to how he’d avoided the conversation on his past. One thing was becoming very clear though; if Geno didn’t want to discuss a topic, then there was nothing in the world even Reaper as his soulmate could do at this point to change his mind.

With no idea on how to help him, Reaper was left to struggle in his attempts to help without overstepping some pretty clear boundaries. There was only so much that could be done to help someone though if they didn’t want help, leaving him at his wit’s end. His duty in life was to ensure Geno’s health and happiness, so what did that make him if he was already failing to pull him from the claws of depression?

A nearby knock rang through the room, snapping the raven out of his own thoughts as he sat bolt upright in his chair. His first instinct was to hide from a nurse before they entered the room and freaked out, but all this resulted in was more knocking. Growing confused, he looked to his sleeping beloved before glancing at the door, wondering where the sound was coming from if it wasn’t a nurse. It almost sounded like the person was knocking on glass...

As stupid as it seemed, the daemon walked to the window, peering through the curtain only to see CC waving to him from the other side. Blinking a couple times in surprise, Reaper waved back and waited to see what Geno’s brother wanted of him. The ghost beckoned him closer, silently indicating that he wanted him to step out through the daemon’s secret door. Cocking his head to the side slightly in mild confusion, he pulled the curtain back enough to point at Geno, only to have the other shake his head. Whatever he wanted Reaper for, clearly it was something he didn’t want the frail skeleton hearing.

Since he didn’t really have anything to lose by entertaining CC’s whims, the hooded skeleton quietly snuck his way out the window, waiting until he was clear of the glass to change forms. Talons gripped the window frame as his wings unfurled, only letting go once he was able to support himself with flight. Reaper closed the window behind him to give the pair some privacy for their conversation, only to turn back and see the ghostly child floating upwards toward the hospital’s roof. “Come on!” CC called, gesturing for him to follow. Figuring that there was no point in turning back now, Reaper let himself vanish as he followed along, occasionally brushing against his companion to let him know that the raven was indeed following.

His invisibility only dissipated once the two of them touched down on the roof, though the act seemed to be somewhat entertaining to CC. “Geez, paranoid much? What was the point of going poof on me like that? S’not like anyone was gonna see ya.”

“Force of habit,” he chuckled, forcing himself to relax a bit in order to hide the tension he’d been under the past few days. “Never know when or how a hunter might be watching, and the absolute last thing that I’d want to do would be to endanger Geno by being reckless in this form.” Getting caught by Dr. Lang was already bad enough, pointing out how he needed to be more careful lest some hunter catch him unaware.

“Fair point, guess I got so used to nobody seeing Geno or Cross’ weird sides that I kinda forgot what it was like to be constantly watching over my shoulder. Speaking of Gen though, that’s actually why I wanted to talk to ya.”

That made sense given that the ghost wanted to speak to him alone, when normally his visits were pretty much dedicated to Geno. He gestured for CC to explain himself, having an idea where this was going but not wanting to draw attention to another issue if that wasn’t the topic at hand. “Okay, cool... well, I’m sure you’ve probably noticed, but Geno’s not doing so hot mentally. I know he thinks that he’s pretty good at hiding it, but I’ve spent enough time around him to know when he’s hit a bad patch.”

“I was afraid that was what you were gonna say,” Reaper sighed, folding his arms across his chest as he stared at the ground. “I’ve done everything I can think of to make him happy and get his thoughts off of whatever’s bugging him, but it’s not working. I was able to make him smile so easily before, so why suddenly is my best not good enough?”

The daemon felt a hand fall onto his shoulder, looking to see CC’s short frame floating high enough to offer him a comforting smile. “Would it help if I said it’s not because of you? Cuz I know you daemons obsess over your partners, but sometimes... one person isn’t enough to support someone.”

“What do you mean by that?”

CC paused for a moment, appearing to be deep in thought as he tried to figure out how to explain himself. “Gen... before he had me and Cross, he’d lost everything. Everyone he’d ever cared about were ripped away from him in front of his eyes, and there was nothing he could do about it. That experience scarred him horribly, as well as all the shit that came afterwards. Cross and I did our bests to help him heal, but the two of us were never enough. All we could manage was to keep him from falling apart, but it wasn’t until Geno met the others that he really started to recover from everything that happened to him.”

Reaper though for a moment, trying to think of who these ‘others’ could be that helped Geno so much. In the time he’d known him, the only one he’d heard anything about was Cross, with CC being spoken of much more frequently since the incident a few days ago. But there was never anyone else in his soulmate’s quiet life, or at least there never appeared to be.

Seemingly sensing his confusion, the ghost was quick to elaborate and explain the large chunk of his little swan’s life that he knew nothing about. He told of the friends they’d made in college, how they had been a very close-knit group that relied on each other for practically everything. Yet as CC started listing names and describing them, the reason for their absence became very clear. “Those names... those are the exact names of my brothers’ soulmates.”

“Which is exactly why there’s a problem,” the smaller agreed, nodding his head as his expression became a bit more serious than before. “That whole thing the octo-fuck told ya about staying away? Every one of you got the same spiel; take your soulmates and avoid each other like the plague. Which is all fine and dandy for avoiding hunters, but it means that all of Geno’s friends are suddenly gone without a word. It’s like he lost everyone all over again, which is why all you can seemingly manage to do is keep him from falling apart.”

“Alright, while this explains my current aggravating issue, I’m still waiting to see exactly where you’re going with this.”

“Well... we have a plan. And by we... I mean Cross.” The tension in the raven was instantly visible, though it didn’t seem to deter CC at all. “Keep your panties on, bird boy. Geez, you’re as bad as my idiot is, no wonder you two were literally at each other’s throats.” Huffing a bit at the instant aggression, he waited until Reaper no longer looked ready to try attacking for merely mentioning Cross’ name. “The plan’s simple; all he’s doing is undoing the plan your dudes made about staying apart.”

It took the daemon a moment to decipher what the ghost was telling him, though once he did, he instantly had his doubts. The plan was made to protect their soulmates from hunters, and it made sense to him to make such a call. Hunters were experts on all the little nuances of his kind, and it wouldn’t take them long to put two and two together if Geno’s friends all started hanging out again. But... what was the point of keeping his little swan safe from a potential threat if it left him miserable? The frail skeleton’s last bout of depression drove him to self harm which eventually landed him in the hospital, so was this really a better alternative?

After a moment of thinking, Reaper sighed as he knew what plan he had to go with. It was one thing when Geno was depressed and he didn’t know the cause, but now he did. There was no way his soul would handle the guilt if he knowingly kept his soulmate away from the one thing that would make him happy. “Alright, what do I have to do?”

“Wait, really? You’re okay with the plan?” CC shook his head for a moment to clear the disbelief, his face full of excitement shortly after. “Okay, sweet! Um, all you really have to do is not try to kill Cross on sight. He’s planning on taking care of the rest, and he’s already gotten to work on getting the gang back together so to speak. Think you can manage that?”

“For Geno’s sake, I promise not to attack his brother,” the raven chuckled, though his joking mood quickly died down. “Not saying that I’ll forgive him for hurting Geno though; he’ll have to prove to me that he’s truly sorry and really make it up to him in order for me to stop glaring at him.”

“Glaring’s okay, we can work with that,” the ghost mused, hovering in place with his fingers tapping against his chin. “I’ll warn him that you’re still pissed though, which should hopefully keep my idiot from pushing you any further.” Nodding to himself, CC straightened in the air before flashing the daemon a grin and a thumbs up. “Promise ya, bird boy, this’ll totally be worth it for Geno!”

“Sure, sure, just stop calling me bird boy. My name’s Reaper.”

“Reaper, huh? Way cooler than a dumb joke... you got a scythe?”

Snorting at the comment, the daemon let his magic weapon spark to life in his grasp. “When you’re named after the lord of death himself, why not play the part? You have no idea how entertaining it is to chase after hunters with this and a black cloak, they practically shit themselves every time.”

“Wait, seriously?!” CC burst out cackling at his claim, clutching his sides as he rocked back midair from his laughing fit. “Holy shit, that’s the best thing I’ve ever heard! God, you’re so much more fun to hang out with than that octo-fuck!”

“You really don’t like Nightmare, do you?” The daemon idly commented as he disbanded the weapon, eyeing the floating child in mild surprise from the strength of his disdain.

“Would you like to see Cross constantly making out with your brother for weeks on end and be unable to do anything about it?”

“Okay, gross, though I guess your reaction makes a lot more sense when put like that.”

“Figured that’d paint a clear enough picture for ya. Anyways, I’m gonna head back to my personal hell that is watching those two constantly being all cute and gross, and I’ll leave Geno in your capable hands. I’ll see ya on his release date!” The kid offered a two fingered salute as he slowly faded away, leaving the daemon alone on the roof.

Sighing to the empty sky, Reaper turned his gaze upwards to gaze at the few clouds that dotted the sky. A chill swept through with the wind, ruffling his feathers and reminding him of the approach of winter. He couldn’t believe how time was flying by; their group had arrived to this city towards the end of September, and now it was almost two weeks into December. Their lives had all changed in ways that couldn’t be undone through the discovery of their soulmates, though only half of their partners understood the full scope of their daemon’s unconditional love for them. And even with the hunters looming over their heads, a constant threat as undeniable as the coming of winter, he was about to undo the one plan his brothers had made to hopefully keep that threat at bay and buy them all the peace they craved. “I really hope I’m not making a mistake,” he sighed again, feeling the magic of his totem embrace him once as he slipped invisibly off the roof to sneak back into his soulmate’s room. Whatever ended up happening, it was too late to take his choice back, so now he had to deal with whatever consequences came. At least his little swan would be able to genuinely smile again if this all went according to plan.

As the days once again began to flow past him, the hooded skeleton was often left distracted as he mulled over his impulsive choice. He could easily think of so many ways that his decision could go wrong, but as he looked over to his depressed beloved, the frail skeleton’s own gaze staring sullenly out the window, the thought of seeing him happy and free of his darkness was too tempting. No matter what argument he came up with against the plan that he honestly knew nothing about, memories of his soulmate’s smile would always win out over his fears.

This internal battle helped to speed along the passage of time, though it was almost too much as the raven was startled out of his thoughts by Geno’s doctor coming in to check on him. The woman sent him a kind smile as she approached her patient, the two of them quietly chatting as she worked on undoing the bandages and checking over the newly exposed bone. Reaper didn’t bother listening to them, his focus more on the surrounding area as he tried to figure out what exactly was going to happen. His brothers were all nearby, easy to sense due to the bond he had with them, though it was impossible to tell if their soulmates, Geno’s friends, were with them as well just from the sheer amount of people in the surrounding area. Even if he was the most adept at picking up on the unique threads of fate that marked their mates, he wasn’t nearly as gifted at identifying individual soul signatures like CC apparently was. His talents only gave him a general idea as to where they were, and while they were definitely in the general area of the hospital, he could glean nothing more than that and simply assumed that they must be with his brothers.

“All right, everything looks good on my end,” Dr. Lang announced, her statement finally drawing Reaper’s attention to their conversation. “The cuts have all healed, and there’s minimal scarring this time that should be indistinguishable from the rest. The only severe one is this one,” she said, gesturing to the cut that brought the frail skeleton to the hospital in the first place. “That one will leave a noticeable scar.”

Geno just shrugged as he rolled down his sleeve, hiding a multitude of scars along his arm. From what the taller could see though, not all of those scars seemed to be the result of self-harm practices. There was no chance for him to comment on the observation though, Geno adjusting the scarf that once again hung around his neck. “You know I don’t care about scars, nobody’s gonna see that one anyways.”

“I know, but as your doctor it’s my job to let you know. Are... you sure you’re okay to leave Geno?”

“Why do you ask? I’m clearly fine, you just said so.”

“Physically, yes you’re fine. What I’m worried about now is your mental health.” The doctor paused to adjust her glasses as she moved to sit with Geno on the bed, a soft smile on her face. “I know you well enough to know when you’re struggling, so there’s no point in putting that fake smile on.”

Said fake smile instantly dropped, Geno letting out a sigh of defeat. “I’m not gonna start cutting again if that’s what you’re worried about. Reaper will be with me, so I won’t be alone. I just... I’m not looking forward to going home to an empty apartment.”

The daemon took this as his cue to step up, moving to stand beside his little swan as he put a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry doc, I’ll take really good care of him, physically and mentally.”

Dr. Lang regarded him with an unreadable gaze for a moment, though her smile was quick to return as she stood up. “I have no doubt that you will, you and CC. That does remind me though; Geno, there’s a surprise waiting for you down in the main lobby.”

As the scarfed skeleton tried to ask what said surprise was, his doctor only chuckled and told him to go replace out for himself before departing the room. Finding himself just as curious, Reaper wasted no time in scooping the smaller up into his arms, eliciting a flustered yelp as the demands to be put down were instant. Ignoring them entirely, he carried his soulmate out of the hospital. Thankfully, Reaper was able to arrive as a proper visitor once Geno’s condition stabilized, so the hospital staff didn’t pay much attention to him other than a brief glance.

One ride in the elevator later, and the pair were entering the main lobby. And sitting right in the middle of the space, with a delicate bow attached to one of the handles, was a red and white wheelchair with Geno’s name written on a sign taped to it. “My wheelchair!” the smaller blurted out in disbelief, shifting to see it better even as Reaper struggled to adjust for the sudden weight shift. “But... how? I lost it the last time I was hospitalized...” As he trailed off, the scarfed skeleton’s gaze twisted upwards, but the raven only shook his head.

“I can’t take credit for this one,” he explained as he set the smaller into the chair. “In fact, I have no idea how this got here considering that you told me it was likely stolen. Guess I’m not the only one looking out for ya though.” Reaper honestly had no clue who was responsible for the surprise, his only guess being that it likely was one of Geno’s little friends working with one of his brothers. Regardless, he couldn’t deny just how happy the chair made his little swan, seeing his face light up with the first genuine smile since the fight with Cross.

It was a relief to see that smile again, the sight of it filling him with confidence that the surprise waiting for them outside would be worth it despite the risks. “What would you say if I said that this wasn’t the only surprise planned for you?”

“Really? But... you just said that you had nothing to do with this one.”

“The chair, nope. But what’s waiting outside, well... I honestly can’t really claim credit for that one either.” As he started wheeling the other towards the front doors, he could feel the others gathering by the entrance. A smirk crossed his face as he knew that this would be worth it, the pair quickly reaching the doors that separated the two of them from everyone gathered outside. “The only part I have to play is bringing you to them... and not killing your brother.”

“Them? My brother? Reaper, what are you...” Geno trailed off as the automatic doors slid open, the two of them stepping outside to replace twelve skeletons all gathered and waiting for them. Reaper’s brothers were towards the back, each standing behind their respective mate, while all of Geno’s friends were standing there with balloons and signs and huge smiles on their faces.

“Happy release day Geno!” The all said at once, cheering and giggling as they promptly swarmed the small skeleton. The one at the center of the swarm was left stunned and speechless by the display, staring around at everyone’s faces for a moment before realization of what was going on seemed to hit him. And just like that, tears welled up at his good eye, pouring over the edge and running down his cheek to splatter in his lap.

“Aww Geno, we’re sorry! We didn’t mean to make you cry!” Reaper recognized the golden skeleton currently speaking as Nightmare’s twin, replaceing it interesting how opposite the two were. While Dream instantly went to comfort his crying friend, Nightmare would at most offer an awkward pat on the back with a tentacle before trying to replace an excuse to leave.

The others followed the golden skeleton’s lead, all surrounding him in a hug as Geno cried and desperately hugged back... all except for Cross. He stood removed from the group, lingering near Nightmare and regarding the scene with a fond smile. That smile fell the second his gaze flitted upwards to glance at Reaper, the raven keeping his promise even if he didn’t hide his disdain for the other. Those mismatched eyes quickly looked away, back to the frail skeleton still sobbing in the midst of a group hug.

“I... I-I thought y-y-you’d all l-left me-e,” Geno wailed, sniffling and trying his best to calm down. This comment prompted all of them to begin assuring their sobbing friend, making vague promises and assurances to the contrary. All Reaper could do at this moment was try to place names to the various faces in front of him, recalling the various stories he’d been told about each of them.

Blue was by far the easiest to identify beyond Dream because... well, he was blue. Blue eyes, blue scarf, blue gloves. It was a bit on the nose, but at least it was clear which one was Dust’s soulmate. Ink was pretty distinguishable as well thanks to the ink splatter along his one cheek. Apparently, it was just some sort of birthmark, though Error’s boyfriend had been known to be covered in ink splatters before due to his work as an artist. That left Lust and Sci, the latter easier to pick out. It still baffled him that Fell of all people was dating someone so timid and nerdy, but their soulmates all seemed to be unique and different even if they were all perfectly compatible. That left the tallest of the group to be Lust, the heart-shaped eyes matching the description he was given. From what he heard, he and Lust would probably get along the best out of Geno’s friends, because the flamboyant dancer wasn’t someone afraid of expressing themselves just like himself.

As the skeleton in the center of the crowd calmed down, everyone started to back off and give him a bit of breathing room, only for the sound of a throat clearing to make everyone pause. Everyone’s heads turned to see Cross standing at the edge of the group, the rest quickly clearing to give him space to approach. Before he could even say anything though, Geno grabbed hold of him and hugged him close the second he could, nuzzling into his brother as the taller returned the hug after a moment. “A-Apology accepted,” he sniffed, threatening to get all emotional again after just calming down.

“B-But I didn’t even say-”

“Shut up, I know you did this,” the frail skeleton cut him off, his hold tightening a bit before he finally let go. “A-And I’m sorry too-”

“Now you shut up, you have no reason to apologize when I was the stubborn ass. You made a request because you know me way too well, and I completely ignored that and made everything worse.” Cross carefully wiped away some of the tears that had once again started to fall, sending his brother a soft smile as they hugged once more. “I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but it means the world to me to have it. Thank you.”

“Hooray, everyone forgives each other, what now?” Nightmare grumbled, his hood over his head as if the sun would burn him just for being out during the day.

Blue shot him a glare, seemingly perturbed that the grumpy skeleton had interrupted the brotherly moment. There was a bit of unease from Dust as his soulmate stared Nightmare down, though that unease vanished as the blue-clad skeleton’s smile returned. “Well, prepare yourself, Geno! We have a whole day of fun and pampering to hopefully in part make up for our absence the past few weeks! You shall be spoiled, and we will hear no arguments against this course of action!”

Ignoring the clearly rehearsed speech, Reaper thought it was a sweet gesture that might make up for his beloved’s time alone. And ever one to sacrifice his own happiness, Geno waved his hands in front of him as he shook his head. “Oh, you don’t need to-”

Before he could finish his sentence though, Ink leaned over the back of the chair to place a finger over his mouth to silence him. “Shush, we told ya we’d hear no arguments. You’re getting spoiled, and that’s final.”

Reaper couldn’t help but let out a snicker at how forcefully caring Geno’s friends were, replaceing it adorable to see them make his little swan blush at all the positive attention he was suddenly receiving. That didn’t change though how obvious it was that his soulmate was loving every second of this, clearly just happy to have his friends back by his side. At least Geno’s many friends were willing to let Reaper be the one in charge of the wheelchair, though that might’ve been from the fact that Cross immediately offered the task to him. Whether it was a peace offering or not, the daemon couldn’t tell, though he did appreciate that nobody tried to fight him for the right to take care of Geno. That was his responsibility and his alone.

Their entire large group headed for the nearest bus station, with the raven merely following along and having no clue where exactly they were going. His brothers’ partners all seemed to understand everything though and got everyone situated on the bus, all towards the front where there was room for Geno to sit in his wheelchair. A couple transfers later and the group found themselves at the city’s largest mall, one filled with so many amenities and attractions that many of the daemons had never seen before. Some of his brothers had been here before for one reason or another, and Reaper couldn’t deny how convenient it was to have so much all located within one building complex. Guess now was a perfect excuse to explore some of those attractions, Geno’s little friends leading the way to an area with the word “Arcade” in bright neon letters outside.

“Alright everyone,” Sci called out as they stepped inside, smirking as he adjusted his glasses slightly. “Time to divide and conquer. Load up your credits, then head out. We’re aiming for points here, people, so play what you’re best at!” Cheers came from some of the soulmates gathered, a few of the more energetic ones flashing strange bracelets before they ran off to a nearby machine that looked somewhat like an ATM.

Cross was the first to return from the strange machine, coming back with two of the bracelets in hand. “Got one ready for you too, Geno,” he said, carefully slipping the bracelet on with a gentle smile. “What do ya say we go hit the shooters and see if we can beat your high score?”

“Guess if we’re aiming for points, then that’s the best area for the two of us to be,” the scarfed skeleton chuckled, his hands moving to the wheels of his chair only to pause and twist around to look at Reaper. “Cross and I are gonna go hit one of the games if that’s okay with you.”

As much as the daemon didn’t really like the idea of leaving Geno in Cross’ care so soon, there was no way he could say no to such an adorable little smile, especially not when it looked so much better than the desolate frown he’d had stuck on his face while in the hospital. “Of course, sweetheart, you have fun! I’m gonna... slowly try to figure out what’s going on here then.” The smaller chuckled, blushing a bit at the pet name, before wheeling himself all of a foot away before the monochrome skeleton insisted on driving. God, it just made Reaper’s blood boil to see someone who’d caused his mate so much pain be forgiven so easily, but he wasn’t in any place to tell his little swan to stay away.

Forcing himself to let go of his anger for now, the raven took a deep breath before turning back to the rest of the group. Many of their soulmates had already returned from the machine and ran off in a similar manner, with most of Reaper’s brothers following after them despite their lack of knowledge as to what was going on. The only ones remaining were himself, Nightmare, Error, Fell, and Sci. “So... what exactly is going on?” He asked, directing his question to the skeleton wearing glasses.

“O-Oh, have you never been to an arcade?” Sci responded, lacking the confidence he’d had just a moment ago when addressing his peers.

“Hate to say it babe, but most of us don’t even know what an arcade is.” Fell responded, looking slightly less confused than the rest of them. “I only get it cuz ya explained it to me before, though I still don’t get that whole ‘divide an’ conquer’ thing you were talking about earlier.”

“W-Well,” Sci started, nervously fiddling with his sleeves as he tried to explain what was going on. “As y-you can see, an arcade is a p-place where people can p-play games. T-This one has three k-kinds; there are ones that are j-just for fun, ones t-that you can win p-prizes from, and ones that g-give you p-points based on your s-score. The points c-can be exchanged for various p-prizes later from the p-prize corner, and that’s what we’re a-aiming for. A-All of us agreed to work t-together to win G-Geno a g-good prize, so everyone’s p-playing the kinds of g-games they’re best at. That’s what I m-meant by divide and c-conquer.

“I-If you look around, I’m sure you c-can quickly figure out what g-games everyone plays. B-Blue plays reaction games, D-Dream focuses on a-anything that involves t-throwing or aiming, Lust plays the d-dancing and movement-style g-games, C-Cross and Geno usually t-tag team an arcade s-shooter, and Ink j-just plays luck-based games and s-somehow wins.” The scientist pointed out the others as he explained their favored games, and they seemed to make sense to Reaper from what he could see. Horror’s soulmate was a dancer, so it made sense that Lust would gravitate to something so similar, though how he could move so gracefully in such baggy clothing was a mystery. Horror clearly had no interest in the game itself, his red eye instead locked onto his partner’s swaying movements as he leaned against a nearby game to watch. Blue seemed to be just as fast as Dust was, the two playing the games together while their limbs were a synchronized blur. Killer was also trying to play with Dream, though it was obvious that Nightmare’s brother had far better accuracy as he rarely missed his shots and spent most of his time coaching the frog in his efforts to keep up.

The only ones currently alone from their group were Ink, who actually was winning at a purely luck-based game, and Cross and Geno. The two brothers were the farthest away, off playing one of those shooter games as Sci had said. That didn’t seem to last very long though, as the short artist noticed their group loitering nearby and excitedly waved Error over. “Ruru! Come over and play with me! I wanna see how you do!” An overly dramatic sigh left the spider as he trudged his way over, though Reaper was certain that he could see the faintest traces of a smile on his brother’s face as he went to try his hand at the game.

“I give it five minutes before he breaks it in frustration,” the hooded skeleton snickered, before turning his attention to the only soulmate currently unaccounted for. “So Sci, how do you fit into this master scheme to win Geno a prize?”

“M-Me?” The smaller skeleton seemed startled to even be spoken to by someone that wasn’t Fell, fidgeting in place until Fell’s hand fell on his shoulder to offer reassurance. “U-Um, well I don’t really have any game I-I’m super good at, so I usually j-just pick out p-prizes and o-organize the points we get.”

“You’re not good at any games?” Fell scoffed, already moving to lead his soulmate over to the arcade machines. “Bullshit, I’ve seen you kick ass online. You could probably play any game here and be great at it!”

“B-But those are online g-games, they’re d-different!”

“Don’t believe ya, we’re playing games,” the cat simply said, continuing to drag Sci along with him. “There’s gotta be somethin’ here that you wanna play and can’t play at your dorm.”

“Well... I-I guess arcades always have the c-classics... Have you ever played Pac-Man?”

“Nope, don’t even know what that is. Why don’tcha show me?”

As the pair wandered off to go play whatever Pac-Man was, the remaining two daemons were left on their own. Before they could even say anything to each other though, a familiar yell of frustration stole their attention. “What do you mean I lost again?!” Came Error’s glitchy yelling, his fist banging against the arcade machine that Ink had dragged him to. Said smaller skeleton was currently too busy laughing to say anything constructive, clutching his middle as he took joy in his boyfriend’s misery.

“Fuck this! The game’s already rigged, time to rig it in my favor,” the spider audibly growled, looking around a bit before his one hand drifted up to his eye socket. This finally got Ink to stop laughing, his gaze now locked on to Error as he pulled his hand away with some of his infamous strings. Said strings were almost immediately jammed into the machine, their magic allowing them to move as if sentient while the artist beside him cheered him on.

“We... should probably go somewhere else before Error inevitably breaks that and gets someone in trouble,” Reaper commented, turning to Nightmare who nodded and silently walked away. The hooded skeleton followed suit, trailing behind him and letting his brother’s grumbled orders to his strings slip into the background. The pair ended up heading over to where their own soulmates were, only to replace a crowd of random onlookers watching them as well. The two daemons were tall enough that they could at least see what was going on from the right spot, though the various humans and monsters gave them dirty looks if they tried to push their way through to get to their soulmates.

“Here comes another wave!” Cross called out in warning, his grip on the plastic gun for the game tightening as what looked to be zombies entered the screen from behind a destroyed building.

Without a word, Geno adjusted his stance, his feet shifting slightly farther apart despite the tremble working through his legs. Reaper sucked in a breath at the sight of him out of his wheelchair after just being released from the hospital, his small frame leaning almost completely on the frame for the game’s gun. It was clearly taking a toll on him, but there was a fierceness burning in his one eye that kept the daemon from pushing his way through to support him. “Got it, let’s take them down.” A brief pause was all it took for Geno to fire the first shot of the wave, hitting the frontmost zombie right in the head and causing it to splatter apart in a cartoonishly gory mess.

The crowd went wild as the brothers unleashed hell, cheering them on as the zombies fell one after the other. It was quite entertaining to watch, especially when he noticed the stark contrast in methods between the two skeletons. Cross fired fast, hitting his target with several bullets all at once to make sure he dropped it. Geno on the other hand was precise, only firing once per target and taking a bit longer, but every single shot was a headshot. The pair were extremely effective together, with Cross’ method taking out the faster targets while Geno focused on downing the strongest zombies in the most efficient manner. It led to the two of them finishing the wave rather quickly, everyone cheering as their characters moved on to the next section of the game.

Nightmare apparently saw this as the perfect time to force his way towards his boyfriend, ignoring any of the cries of outrage the others shot at him as he did so. Reaper followed suit, taking advantage of the temporary gap to make his way over to Geno. Someone did try to stop him, but their hand and foul words were met with the coldest glare the raven could muster, causing them to immediately let go and back off. That icy expression quickly melted away as he reached his soulmate’s side, all smiles as he waited for the next round to be finished before making any move.

Once the brothers had defeated all of the zombies and their characters were moving to the next area, Reaper took advantage of the short break to carefully coax the frail skeleton into his arms. A startled yell of protest initially greeted him, yet once the daemon had his arms forming a secure seat for his mate without impeding his ability to play, all he got were some grumbles that he couldn’t decipher before the attention of both was directed back to the game.

“You’re really good at this,” the taller idly commented, easily bearing the scarfed skeleton’s weight so that he no longer had to stand on his shaking legs.

“I never miss,” was all he got in response, Geno backing up his claim by proceeding to shoot three zombies in a row with perfect headshots despite their erratic movement that was only getting faster and more unpredictable with each area the brothers cleared.

“He’s right,” Cross commented without looking away from the screen. “Whenever we play something like this, Geno lets his inner sniper out, never missing a single shot. I wish I was as good as you, Gen.”

“Practice makes perfect.” The frail skeleton’s calm smile widened a bit as they continued playing, with several shots being made on zombies that Cross typically took care of. “You better focus though, because you’ll be overrun if you’re not careful.”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry about that.” With that short exchange, both brothers got serious once again, blocking out both their soulmates and the cheering crowd around them as they focused on the game in front of them. After several more rounds, Cross’ character was eventually overrun, resulting in a string of curses from him as his screen went red and displayed ‘GAME OVER’. Despite this though, Geno kept playing, somehow managing to handle the onslaught of the zombie horde in front of him on his own. The game only ended once Geno physically ran out of bullets, being unable to fight back the horde any longer despite having never wasted a single shot. He really did never miss.

The crowd of fans hardly dispersed as the brothers moved on to other games, all wanting to see the pair beat some of the highest scores the games had. It wasn’t surprising though after seeing the first game played so masterfully that the brothers both had their names on leaderboards already, with Geno having the top score on a couple of different games. The points that they were accumulating were apparently insane, which only made the raven happier as it meant that his little swan would be able to get an even better prize.

After a few hours of playing games, the other members of their group wandered over to the last shooter left in the arcade that hadn’t been played by the duo today. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, except for Error and Ink that both had a ‘cat that ate the canary’ look. In Reaper’s mind, that meant that the two had most definitely broke at least one of the games and were worried about being discovered for their antics. At least they all weren’t kept waiting much longer before the brothers actually managed to beat the game they were playing, cementing themselves at the top of the leaderboard and beating out their old high scores by a narrow margin.

“That was amazing you guys!” Blue cheered, somehow still full of energy even though he’d apparently played enough games with Dust to exhaust the monkey’s boundless energy. The hooded skeleton lagged slightly behind the hyper ball of blue energy, clearly drained yet enjoying himself as he leaned on a nearby wall. “I didn’t even know that these games had an end that you could get to! You two really are the best at these!”

“Heh, thanks Blue, but I think the credit needs to go to Geno. There’s a reason that his name is always higher on the leaderboard than mine; without him I’d never be able to get anywhere near the scores I get.” Cross looked fondly over to his brother, who had reluctantly been returned to his wheelchair now that there was no longer a need to play the games. If Reaper had his way though, he would’ve happily packed the smaller all over the place just like that.

The scarfed skeleton blushed a bit at the praise, shrugging as he brushed their words off. “What can I say? I never miss,” he reiterated, turning his attention to the points card wrapped around his wrist. “Though I think we’ve never earned this many points before.”

“Well that’s great, because now we can get you the best prize ever!” Ink blurted out, his words earning a collective groan from a few of Geno’s little friends.

“Ink, hun, that was supposed to be a surprise,” Lust chastised, sighing at the clueless look on the artist’s face.

Dream was just as puzzled, looking to the others before voicing his confusion. “Wait, this is the first I’ve heard about us getting a gift for Geno.”

“Because we didn’t trust you to remember not to tell Geno,” Sci groaned, adjusting his glasses before turning to their frail friend. “Well, so much for that plan though. Hope you don’t mind Geno, but our plan was to use all of our points that we all saved up to get you the best prize we could.”

“W-What? But you guys don’t have to do that,” Geno tried to insist, only for six other skeletons to claim the opposite in their own way. Between all of them professing their desire to do this as a way of making up for their absence the past few weeks, the scarfed skeleton eventually caved and the group headed over to the prize shop with triumphant grins on their faces.

As everyone looked around, Reaper allowed his soulmate to wheel himself wherever he wanted so that the raven could look around as well. If the group was looking for a gift for his little swan, then it only made sense for him to assist in their efforts. Ignoring all of the small, gimmicky items on display, he turned his attention to the prizes worth the highest points, because anything less would be insulting. There were a few really good options, but the one that caught his attention the most was a cartoonish stuffed plague doctor. It honestly looked more like a bird than a person with its round, fluffy body, and that’s precisely what got his attention.

“Sci!” The daemon called over to the nearby scientist, watching him flinch before scurrying over to see what the taller skeleton wanted. He paid his timid nature, as well as the glare Fell sent him, no mind as he pointed to the stuffed toy, thankfully getting the bespectacled skeleton to follow. “Do you have enough points to get him that? I’m almost certain that he’d love it.”

“The p-plague doctor? I-It is p-pretty cute, though I d-don’t know if he’d l-like it.” Sci hummed and hawed, and after enough prodding eventually disclosed that they did in fact have enough cumulative points to get it and maybe some other small things.

That was all Reaper needed to know, making quick use of Sci’s timid nature to almost bully him into choosing the prize since he was the one in charge of the points card that everyone’s winnings had been transferred onto. Fell repeatedly tried to get him to back off, though it seemed that provoking the scientist’s little kitty was even more effective in getting him to agree. On the promise that they would stop fighting and that the older daemon would leave Fell alone, Sci promised to go with the idea so long as Geno was okay with his prize. It was clear to the raven that Fell’s soulmate was a better judge of strength than the mountain lion was, choosing to placate the hooded skeleton in order to keep his boyfriend from getting into a fight he couldn’t win. Even if Sci was a bit cowardly, his intelligence and ability to judge a situation had earned Reaper’s respect, thankful that his feisty brother had a soulmate that was far calmer and more collected. It might save Fell from a more serious fight later on in his life.

A satisfied smirk was plastered all over Reaper’s smug face as Sci brought over the plague doctor, handing it to Geno and watching him light up as his fingers wrapped around the soft material. That smirk was replaced with a genuine smile as his soulmate looked up at him, waving at the knowing look in his eye before his gaze was stolen by the stuffed toy again. “Told ya he’d like it,” he snickered over at Fell, the cat merely grumbling and flipping him off before returning to his soulmate’s side.

After giving his soulmate and all his little friends time to spend the rest of their points, he returned to pushing the wheelchair along as the group headed for food. As they made their way, the scarfed skeleton twisted in his chair to look back at the daemon. “You said to get this just because it would remind me of you, didn’t you?”

“Guilty~” He practically sang, not even ashamed of his coercion. “Far be it from me to deprive you of something you’d clearly appreciate the beauty of. Besides, I happen to know that you have a fondness for anything resembling a corvid, which that little thing does, and you are a secret little snuggle bug~” That comment had him retreat into his scarf, eliciting another laugh from the daemon before he placed a playful little kiss on the top of his head. The flustered reactions Geno made never failed to entertain him, his instant mixture of fury and fluster always so adorable.

The group stopped at the food court since it would be the easiest way to appease everyone’s varied food interests, giving them plenty of options to choose from. By far the most entertaining was Ink ordering Takoyaki from a sushi bar, gushing about how delicious octopus was while the majority of the daemons held their breath and looked at Nightmare. Reaper however just found the whole situation hilarious, bursting out laughing when the clueless artist offered Cross a chance to taste the octopus. He couldn’t tell which part was better; Cross’ flushed face as he looked to the ground, Nightmare’s own spluttered noises of embarrassment, or the quiet ‘oh’ that left Ink’s mouth after Error leaned over and whispered something to him.

After a slightly awkward and very entertaining meal, their soulmates insisted on taking Geno to the movies as well, citing it as the perfect way to wrap up their apology outing. Lacking the heart to refuse, the scarfed skeleton’s agreement sent them wandering to the other end of the mall where a theater had been built in to the shopping complex. Even though they’d just ate, they still stopped for snacks and drinks before heading to the movie, the film being a sci-fi show of interest to his little swan.

While it wasn’t typically what he’d watch, the daemon’s love of romance films taking precedence over sci-fi, it had been enjoyable nonetheless. The new experience of watching a movie in a theater instead of the TV was only made better by Geno’s excitement to watch the film, occasionally muttering to him or Cross in a quiet voice before his attention would be stolen by the giant screen once again. Reaper even got the chance to feed him a few pieces of popcorn, always laughing at how he’d get so flustered as he took the offered bite and muttered what was most likely curses or insults under his breath.

The daemon had to hand it to Geno’s little friends, because they certainly knew how to make a memorable and fun outing. All of them were happy and laughing, but best of all he could see that the depression that had clouded his little swan’s face was gone. Their presence had restored a light to him that Reaper was only now able to see for the first time, and it was magical to experience such pure joy and happiness from someone he would dedicate his life to making happy. Consequences be damned, reuniting Geno and his friends was worth the risk of hunters and having to put up with Cross. And as much as he hated to admit it, it was plainly obvious to even a blind man that Cross truly was a caring and doting brother, their fight in the hospital clearly not representative of their true relationship.

By the time the movie had ended, their large group made their way out of the theater and back into the mall, all excitedly chattering about the film and its ending. Blue was the first to suggest they do some more activities together, like dinner or shopping, only for the raven to unfortunately have to shut them down. “I hate to break it to you guys, but I think you’ve hit the limit for the amount of things you can drag Geno around to.”

Geno was fast asleep in his wheelchair, slumped over in a slightly awkward position with his hands tightly wrapped around his new plushie. It was absolutely adorable to see him so relaxed and at peace like this, the others all sharing a similar sentiment as many of them cooed at the sight of their close friend. “Wow, he never lets himself fall asleep in his chair, we must’ve really tired him out then,” Lust commented, getting agreements from the others as they huddled around the sleeping skeleton.

Cross was finally the one to have them disperse, citing that he’d help get Geno home and telling everyone how fun it was to spend time together like this. There were some murmurs of last-minute finals or something of the like as well as Christmas shopping, before the group all split up and headed their own way. Reaper’s brothers all followed after their soulmates, leaving only him and Nightmare left with their partners.

“Alright, let’s get going,” the monochrome skeleton said, gesturing for the raven to follow only to earn a quizzical look. It only took him a moment to figure out the source of his confusion, causing him to chuckle and turn back. “Look, I know enough about you and what you stand for that I know you’re never going to willingly leave his side. Am I still pissed that you tried to keep me away from him? Yeah, but after taking time to cool down I know you really were only doing what he asked of you. From what I’ve seen today, you care for him as much if not more than I do, so I might as well swallow my pride and make peace with one of the best things to happen to him in his crappy life.” Cross then held out his hand, a slight smile on his face. “I’m sorry for everything I did to both you and Geno. Even if he’s forgiven me, I can understand if you don’t, but I’m still sorry regardless. I’d love it if we could move forward and start over again, work together to take care of him instead of get in each other’s way. What do you say?”

Reaper looked to the hand stretched out in front of him before glancing up to see Cross’ face. There was obvious hope in his eyes, with a guarded optimism being expressed in Nightmare’s eyes just behind him. After a brief moment, he glanced down to see his sleeping soulmate, smiling as he recalled the day’s events and the brothers’ heartfelt reunion outside the hospital. “If Geno can forgive you, then I guess so can I. You have his best interests in heart just as I do, so there really is no reason for us to be at each other’s throats when it’s clear that you never meant to seriously hurt him.” His eyes betrayed a sharp and hidden threat behind his words, one he was certain the other caught. If he ever hurt Geno like that again or abandoned him, then there’d be no saving the monochrome skeleton from Reaper’s wrath.

But as it stood now, he was truly willing to bury the hatchet, taking hold of the extended hand and letting any malice vanish from him as he did so. “Thank you for accepting me into his life.”

“Thanks for accepting me into yours,” Cross offered, the two shaking on their new deal to take care of Geno together.

And just like usual, Nightmare saw fit to ruin the touching moment, this time by audibly gagging. “If you two start acting any sweeter, I’m gonna get diabetes,” he grumbled, turning on the spot to hide how truly happy he was for this turn of events. “Come on, let’s get Sleeping Beauty home so I can get away from people.” Reaper let out a chuckle as he and Cross started following along, shaking his head at his brother’s comment. Even if replaceing Geno had changed his whole world, he figured that some things would just never change.